All smiles as new children's dental centre opens

A new Dental Centre for Children’s Dentistry and Orthodontics at St Thomas’ Hospital was officially opened by Guy’s and St Thomas’ Chairman, Hugh Taylor on Monday 1 December.

The children’s dental centre, which sees almost 10,000 outpatients a year, has moved from the 22^nd floor of Guy’s Tower to its new home in South Wing at St Thomas’.

Children’s dental services are now based near Evelina London Children’s Hospital at St Thomas’ so that children with long-term and complex conditions can see all their clinicians on the same hospital site.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has invested £2 million in the new, child-friendly centre.

Services include:

• a weekday morning walk-in emergency service for children who are in pain or have suffered accidents to their teeth
• outpatient dental services for children with a complex medical history or needs, referred by their dentist for specialist treatment
• orthodontic service for children referred by their dentist.

Hugh Taylor said: “I was delighted to be asked to open this fantastic new facility. It marks an important next step in our vision to bring children’s hospital services together on the St Thomas’ site focussed around the Evelina London Children's Hospital.”

Eric Whaites, Clinical Director for Dental Services, added: “I would like to thank all the staff involved in developing our new centre for their hard work and dedication. It is always exciting when a vision and plan become reality and I hope children and their families will enjoy the new facility.”

The new centre echoes the bright, modern and child-friendly environment of the children’s hospital. It includes artwork by Japanese artist Kiriko Kubo who designed the Manga characters in Evelina London.

She said: “Working with children and having their input is priceless. It was nice to use the same characters that are in Evelina London Children’s Hospital. I think seeing familiar faces can help children when they come to hospital.”